Diet beverages actually do help people lose weight

A new study has revealed that drinking diet beverages helps people lose weight.

According to the study, diet beverages can in fact help people lose weight, directly countering myths in recent years that suggest the opposite effect - weight gain.

James O. Hill, executive director of the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, said that those who drank diet beverages lost more weight and reported feeling significantly less hungry than those who drank water alone, which reinforces that if you're trying to shed pounds, you can enjoy diet beverages.

The study shows that subjects who consumed diet beverages lost an average of 13 pounds - 44 percent more than the control group, which lost an average of 9 pounds. More than half of the participants in the diet beverage group -64 percent - lost at least five percent of their body weight, compared with only 43 percent of the control group.

The diet group also felt significantly less hungry, showed significantly greater improvements in serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - the so-called "bad" cholesterol and saw a significant reduction in serum triglycerides.

The study was publ8ished in Obesity, the journal of The Obesity Society.